When we hosted our annual plant sale at Ben Nobleman Park this June, one of the visitors introduced herself as Shayndelynne. We quickly learned that she has a passion for monarch butterflies.
Shayndelynne is a volunteer citizen scientist who records monarch sightings as part of the Journey North/Monarch Joint Venture program. Citizen scientists across North America report sightings of monarch eggs, caterpillars, chrysalises, and adult butterflies, helping researchers better understand monarch populations and migration patterns.
Shayndelynne explained that after losing much of the milkweed in her own garden during a cleanup, she came to our sale hoping to buy a few plants. Unfortunately, this year we weren’t able to divide our milkweed.
Part of the reason was practical. Our volunteer Giselle had researched the issue and discovered that established milkweed doesn’t transplant well. We also wondered whether there might already be monarch eggs hidden beneath the leaves, so it seemed best to leave the plants where they were.
Instead, Shayndelynne decided she would simply visit the park to check up on the butterflies in our garden as part of her butterfly research.
A couple of weeks later she wrote:
“Last week I viewed 4 or 5 beautiful butterflies lapping up food from the gardens. They were quite large and looked very healthy. Good on the Stewards for taking such great care of all the plants.”
Those comments mean a lot to us!
This spring, two of our stewardship days were cancelled because of rain, and the pollinator garden became a little wilder than usual. Looking back, maybe that wasn’t entirely a bad thing. Leaving the milkweed to grow naturally may have created an even better habitat for monarchs and other pollinators.
Shayndelynne has generously offered to help monitor monarch activity in the park by recording sightings for the citizen science project. She also hopes to share her knowledge with our volunteer team. Questions like When is it safe to thin milkweed? or How can we balance keeping the garden manageable while protecting monarch habitat? are the kinds of conversations we’d love to have together.
As Shayndelynne wrote:
“If I could help the Ben Nobleman Stewards I would gladly assist, but I cannot do much bending or lifting so my work would be physically limited.”
That reminds us of something important.
A community orchard and pollinator garden need more than people who can dig weeds or spread mulch. They also benefit from people who can identify butterflies, organize and lead community events, write blog posts, organize children’s activities, share research, or simply help us see the garden through fresh eyes.
Everyone has something valuable to contribute.
So here’s our question for you.
What special skill, experience, or passion could you bring to Ben Nobleman Park?
If you’d like to join us on a stewardship day, we’d love to meet you. Whether your expertise is gardening, photography, education, wildlife, writing, or something we haven’t even thought of yet, there’s a place for you here. Just send us an email at growingforgreen (at) gmail.com and ask to sign up for our email list.
Nature has a way of bringing together exactly the people we need. And we’re looking forward to learning from Shayndelynne.
Susan Poizner is one of the volunteers for The Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard in Toronto. She is the creator of the fruit tree care education website OrchardPeople.com. Susan is the author of four fruit tree care books including Grow Fruit Trees Fast: A Beginner’s Guide to a Healthy Harvest in Record Time. She is also the host of the Orchard People podcast and an ISA Certified Arborist.